


The First Night

by JupiterIsaJellyfish



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (mentioned anyway), Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, Deer Dipper Pines, Gargoyle Grunkle Stan, Gen, I am 82 years late to this mad house, Mermaid Mabel Pines, Sibling Bonding, all I know about this au is from the awesome art, send help, this has been sitting in my files for 3 years guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 02:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JupiterIsaJellyfish/pseuds/JupiterIsaJellyfish
Summary: The night after Dipper and Mabel have an altercation with a strange creek finds Mabel brooding in the downstairs bathtub. After trying and failing to keep herself in good spirits, she ends up helping both herself and Dipper after her worried bro comes to her with similar fears.





	The First Night

**Author's Note:**

> So I am two for two with writing about siblings bonding while one is stuck in a bathtub??? It won't be a pattern guys I promise XD. I'm not actually too familiar with the Gravity Falls AO3 scene so idk how often this sitch has been written about but hey what can ya do ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ I wrote this three years ago while stuck on the tarmac. Enjoy!

Mabel picked at the gritty feeling on her arms, and did what any sane person would do; look at the bright side of things. She would never need to worry about shaving her legs when she got older. She would never again stub her big toe on the kitchen table. She would never have to worry if her thighs touched. She.. she.. 

She would never climb a tree again. She would never beat Dipper at a race again. She would never dance or skip or bike again. 

Mabel groaned- her tactics were working against her. She screwed up her face and started again, letting her mind wander to a more pleasant fantasy, one were she managed to squeeze through the plumbing and escaped to the ocean. She imagined finding a pod of dolphins and having them take her to that most bittersweet of crushes. Mermando and his family would be so blown away by her elegance and charm that his parents would immediately bless their engagement. Mabel would live happily for the rest of her life as a princess among merfolk, beloved by all, never to see her family again… shoot. This one wasn’t working either. 

Still, she contemplated as she readjusted her magenta tail in the chipped bathtub, it would be nice to see Mermando again. He had been by far the best of her summer romances, at least compared to the nut job that was Gideon, any of the SeVeral Timez boys, or Norman/ Jeff and his gnome minions. 

She sank her head down and blew bubbles. Things could be worse. She could have been an actual siren, like the ones that Dipper had told her about last fall; with a buzzard body and a hankering for brutally murdering people via hypnosis. She could have been turned into an ugly shmugly troll. 

She could have died altogether. But she still felt a twinge of unhappiness. She had planned on taking dance lesson next year. All of her sweaters would start shrinking if they ever got washed. And of course the elephant in the room; what now? Could she ever go home? Could she ever live a normal life (relatively speaking)? Pollyanna had made seeing the positive side of things seem simple enough, even after the car. They were alike in more ways than one now. 

Mabel blew more bubbles. At least her tail was nice. She liked the color. It matched most of her sweaters. It had stopped feeling like pins-and-needles. At least she liked it. Maybe now she could convince Grunkle Stan to get her that giant hamster ball; they could duck tape over the air holes and she could just roll everywhere in her own personal bubblegum bubble. That would be fun. 

Mabel started picking at her tail. The dim glow of the decrepit nightlight in the corner was casting weird shadows across the shower curtains. They made her think of fairytales. Mabel faintly heard a few small creaks from the roof, and wondered if Stan was having as hard a time catching some sleep as she was. 

A steady gurgle of searing hot water oozed out of the faucet, a soothing if slightly inconsistent ambiance that she hoped would keep the water warm. Mabel moved her tail to the other side of the faucet; the boiling trickle wasn't helping her efforts to find a comfy position to sleep in. 

There was clattering crash and Mabel jerked up. She pulled away the curtains and froze, staring at the door. She had never been afraid of weird noises in the night; it wasn't like they were unusual around the Mystery Shack. But this was the first night she had spent in the Shack without Dipper somewhere nearby. Also the first night that she couldn't run away from/kick the gumdrops out of whatever freak-face thought it was okay to sneak around other people’s houses at night. 

After a few seconds (minutes? hours? She could have taken her pick) she let her shoulders loosen as she made out the fumbled tapping that she was 97.5% sure signaled a twelve year old boy who still had no idea how to walk on four legs. They stopped momentarily before the door stuttered open, then closed while a flashlight’s beam darted across the room. 

Mabel rubbed the stars out of her eyes and looked up to see her bizarrely deerified brother hugging two pillows to his chest with a quilt draped across his back. His legs were splayed awkwardly, and Mabel got the impression that he must have fallen down most of the attic steps. 

“What are you doing up so late Bro-Bro?” Mabel yawned.  
“Its weird being in the attic alone. Also, I now hate stairs. Can I spend the night here?”  
“Sure”.

Dipper hobbled over to the corner of the bathtub at an angle to the wall and dropped his pillows. Plopping down on it, he wrapped the quilt around himself and curled into a tight knot. Mabel watched curiously, wondering how such a gangly person could fit themselves into so tiny a space.  
Mabel sank back down into the tub and continued to pick at her tail. The flashlight lay abandoned and lightless next to Dipper. He seemed to have fallen asleep instantly, but Mabel knew him better then that. His eyes were wide open, and he was worried.  
Mabel turned over and scooted back up the yellowed porcelain sides of the bathtub. Reaching down, she pulled one of Dippers massive deer ears.

“Ouch!” Dipper swatted at her hand, glaring at her. “What was that for?”

“Are you worried?”

“What do you mean?” Dipper asked, massaging the affronted ear. 

“About what’s going to happen now?”

“Um… well, yeah. I mean, Grunkle Stan’s made of rocks, Soos is goo, Wendy’s a wolf, You’re a fish, and I’m a freak. Half the town is probably evil now, we probably won’t ever be able to go home, or ever be normal again. There’s absolutely everything to be worried ab— ”

“Well don’t”

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry”

“Mabel, how can you possibly—“

“Don’t worry, Dipper” Mabel insisted. “Weird stuff like this has been happening all summer, and it always works out. Just, try and look on the bright side of things”

“Like?”

“You’re taller than me”

Dipper laughed, just a little.  
“And?”

“You’ll always beat me in a race”

“Not if I keep tripping over my own feet”

“Meh, you’ll figure it out eventually”

“Heh. Anything else?”

“Weeelll, Wolves like deer, right?

“Wolves like eating deer” 

“At least it’s a start”

Dipper laughed for real at that, a true laugh that faded into a subdued grin.  
“So, that makes three goods things, one of which might involve me being eaten, in the wake of a hundred or so bad things, huh? That seems about right”.

“Well at least they’re there”

“Yeah”.

They both sat silently, Mabel’s tail lazily trailing back and forth, Dipper’s ears relaxed. 

“Thanks”.

Mabel glanced at her brother, “Hm?”

“Thanks. I mean, I’m still worried, but you’re right. There’re always positive things”. 

Dipper picked up the flashlight, tapping the lens.  
“Wanna make shadow puppets?”

“Bet I can make a better dog than you”

“You’re on”.


End file.
